2015 NHRA U.S. NATIONALS - PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE NOTEBOOK
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MONDAY PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE NOTEBOOK
LOW-KEY SAVOIE HEADS INTO COUNTDOWN IN HIGH GEAR - About a week before the NHRA’s Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals opened at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis, Jerry Savoie and wife Vonnie were sipping coffee in their Cut Off, La., kitchen about 4:30 or 5 o’clock in the morning.
And the eventual Pro Stock Motorcycle winner was in a philosophical mood.
He told her, “If I die today, don’t feel sorry for me. I have accomplished everything in my life I ever wanted to accomplish: financially, family, racing . . . There’s a big bucket list – fly my own plane – and I’ve done everything. From here on out whatever God brings and whatever God gives me is what happens.”
Then Monday after earning his third overall Wally trophy and his second this season, Savoie said, “And here we are at the U.S. Nationals. Been here three times . . .I told everybody all weekend, ‘We want it bad. I want it real bad.’
“It’s a great day. I thank God for being here with all you people. Wonderful day,” he said.
Against close buddy Chip Ellis in the final, Savoie knew he was lucky. His Savoie’s Alligator Farm Suzuki had landed him the No. 3 qualifying spot with a 6.896-second elapsed time at 194.35 mph in the quarter-mile and had run a pair of 6.87s and a 6.89 in previous elimination rounds. But he won with a 7.011, 193.02 as Ellis red-lit on his PiranaZ/Pippin Motorsports Buell.
“The last round was not the way you want to win, but we held our composure,” Savoie said. “The pass before, when we went [6.]87, we actually destroyed the clutch completely . . . the clutch basket and bearings - everything. We had to go into the engine and take everything out and put in a while new set-up. Evidently it just was not what we thought it was. It just annihilated the tire in first gear. That’s why we dropped off so much.”
Savoie likened winning the U.S. Nationals to a little boy’s fantasy of quarterbacking an NFL team to a Super Bowl victory in dramatic fashion:
“Imagine you’re in the Superdome and you’re five years old, eating your popcorn, and you close your eyes and it’s the Super Bowl. And you just threw the winning touchdown with five seconds left on the clock, and your name is Drew Brees. And you wake up and you look around and you’re not that five-year-old in the stands, eating popcorn. You are Drew Brees.
“So all my life I’ve dreamed – I’ve watched Angelle and Antron [Brown] and all these guys. I took 32 years off, never sat on a motorcycle, then come out here professionally and won races, now three races, and the Big Daddy of them all.”
Said Savoie, “Man, I am humbled, so humbled.”
What prompted his remark to his wife, Savoie said, was thinking about friend Junior Pippin, Ellis’ team owner.
Pippin raced all over the U.S. until his wife, Lisa, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Then he said his mission was not to win races but to beat cancer. He painted the dump trucks in his Conyers, Ga., trucking company fleet with pink lettering and the pink ribbon breast-cancer-awareness logo. He painted his Pro Stock Motorcycle pink. He sold T-shirts that benefited Emory University’s Winship Cancer Institute. He accompanied Lisa to her treatments. He prayed.
Almost as soon as Lisa’s cancer went into remission, Pippin himself learned in mid-July that he has inoperable nasal cancer. So instead of coming to Indianapolis and celebrating Ellis’ No. 1 qualifying position, he began aggressive chemotherapy and radiation treatments.
It certainly was on Ellis’ mind. He said, “Junior is a real positive person and probably the most positive person I’ve ever met.” So Ellis, who like Savoie is in the Countdown to the Championship field, had a mission at Lucas Oil Raceway. “We are full steam ahead, and he’s going to go through his treatments and we are going to keep running his Buell and try and get him a Wally,” Ellis said.
And all that weighed on Savoie’s mind as he and Vonnie visited over the breakfast table.
He said, “I sent Junior Pippin a text, telling him, ‘It’s four o’clock in the morning, and I’m thinking about you and praying for you.’ I mean, he’s really sick. It makes you think life I really short. And we’re all here together – it’s just a moment, and before you know it, that moment could be gone.”
So Savoie, 56, is savoring his shiny moments, such as winning in June at Englishtown, N.J., and finishing as runner-up to Eddie Krawiec at Sonoma, Calif. – and, of course, conquering the U.S. Nationals.
And he’s optimistic about his chances in the six-race playoff that begins Sept. 18-20 with the Carolina Nationals at Concord, N.C.
“We have a really good team and a really good motorcycle,” Savoie said.
For that, he thanked crew chief Tim Kulungian and “Vance & Hines: Eddie Krawiec, Byron Hines, Terry Vance, the whole organization, to give us the power do come out here and do what we do. It’s unbelievable. We have to find it, but it’s there.” He acknowledged his parts manufacturers, too, and said, “without those products we wouldn’t go as fast as we do.” He mentioned Mello Yello [brand from series sponsor Coca-Cola] and [event sponsor] Chevrolet.
When Ellis found out he would be racing Savoie in the final round, he was thrilled.
“He’s the real deal. He’s real people,” Ellis said of Savoie.
And Monday at the U.S. Nationals, Jerry Savoie was, indeed, the real deal. Susan Wade
RACEDAY TAKEAWAYS
COUNTDOWN AT STAKE – Needing to get to the U.S. Nationals final round to get in the six-race Countdown to the Championship, three-time world champion Angelle Sampey beat Karen Stoffer and Matt Smith.
Likewise, No. 1 qualifier Chip Ellis defeated Angie Smith, and Eddie Krawiec, setting the stage for the huge semifinal battle between Sampey and Ellis.
The winner was Ellis. Ellis clocked a 6.877-second run at 196.47 mph, while Sampey, who got the advantage off the starting line, slowed to 7.130 seconds at 176.53 mph.
“I left on him and I really thought I had him and I was going straight,” Sampey said. “I was tucked in and I was shifting and when I got to I think it was fourth gear, it just wouldn’t go into gear. I kept pushing and pushing and pushing and I finally had to roll off the throttle a little bit and it went into gear so I got back on it, but he flew by me. It just threw my hopes for the U.S. Nationals away. I did everything I could do and my team did such a great job. We took a little break and tried to recoup and we did. We came out her with power and ability and focus and determination, but luck was not on our side in the third round.”
SEVEN AND COUNTING – For the seventh year in a row, the Pro Stock Motorcycle winner was a first-time U.S. Nationals winner. Jerry Savoie was the latest first-time champ as he beat No. 1 qualifier Chip Ellis in the finals. With his victory, Ellis clinched the No. 8 spot in the Countdown, moving up from 11th place where he started the weekend. Despite losing in the first round, Scotty Pollacheck was able to slide into the No. 10 spot and make the Countdown.
HARLEY-DAVIDSONS EXIT EARLY – Andrew Hines and Eddie Krawiec have been dominant in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class for several years.
Neither rider was dominant Sunday as they both lost in the second round.
Hines lost to Hector Arana Jr. and Krawiec was upended by Ellis.
SUNDAY PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE NOTEBOOK
ELLIS CAPTURES NO. 1 QUALIFYING SPOT – Veteran Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Chip Ellis is having a dream weekend so far at the U.S. Nationals.
While most of the competitors are struggling to find power, Ellis was setting the pace with his 6.855-second time at 195.73 mph to take the No. 1 qualifying spot.
Ellis came to Indy No. 11 in the point standings – 26 points behind 10th-place LE Tonglet. Tonglet, the 2010 world champion, qualified No. 8 and faces Eddie Krawiec in round 1.
Ellis has competed in seven of this season’s nine events for owner Junior Pippin on his Buell. His top highlights to date are two semifinal round appearances at Norwalk and Chicago.
“I haven’t thought about any points,” Ellis said. “I’m just trying to think about getting this motorcycle down the race track one run at a time. I figure if I can do my best job and as a team if we do our best job then the points will kind of take care of themselves. I promise you I’m not getting hung up in any points or any of that stuff. I’m just having fun. It’s hot though. Black leathers, black race track, black motorcycle, it’s hot but I’m not complaining cause I worked in North Dakota for years and it was 57 below out there so I promise you I’m not complaining, I’m just making a statement.”
Ellis, who last won in 2008, took a moment to imagine what it would be like to be the U.S. Open championship.
“For me, personally, it would be great but for my team owner Junior Pippin it would be even greater,” Pippin said. “He’s dying of cancer so we’re just out here trying to do the best we can for him. I don’t want to say that it doesn’t matter to me because it really does but it matters more to me to win this race for him and his wife Lisa.”
According to Ellis, Pippin, 62, was diagnosed with nasal cancer shortly after the NHRA’s Route 66 Nationals July 9-12 in Chicago.
“I didn’t talk to him before I came here but when I talked to him (Sunday) morning he was pretty fired up,” Ellis said. “A 6.85 this morning is pretty stout. If you think about the competition that we’re running against, for us to come out here and cover them by three humdredths was a pretty amazing run and we still left some out there. We know the bike is fast but we’ve just got to put together some of the runs (Monday), and we can be in the winner’s circle.”
Ellis said Pippin’s cancer is inoperable and he started chemotherapy and radiation Aug. 31.
“There’s pressure when you have the best bike obviously,” Ellis said. “For me, once you get past first round it’s easy and no one wants to lose first round but I’m just not going to think about that. I’m going to go out there, ride the bike and have fun because that’s why I’m here. I’m going out for a Sunday ride on Monday. It’s easy to race on Monday because it’s not race day, it’s Monday. That’s like when you test and tune so we’re going to test and tune (Monday).”
Ellis faces off against No. 16 qualifier Angie Smith Monday in the first round.
STOFFER’S UNCLEAR ABOUT COUNTDOWN SCHEDULE - Karen Stoffer has had a great season. The veteran Pro Stock Motorcycle driver came to the U.S. Nationals fourth in the points on the strength of her wins at Gainesville, Fla., and Norwalk.
Stoffer is at the U.S. Nationals and she qualified No. 13 Sunday at 6.967 seconds at 191.08 mph, but she is unsure what the six-race Countdown to the Championship will hold for her team.
“It’s race-by-race and right now we don’t have anything for the Countdown yet,” said Stoffer, who pilots a Suzuki tuned by her husband Gary. “We have property in Indy, our shop is there, so it is low-cost race for us. We don’t have to get hotel rooms and things like that and there’s not a lot of travel because everything is there because our shop is in Indy.”
Stoffer’s performance this season is impressive considering she didn’t race for 18 months before Gainesville. Prior to the Gatornationals March 12-15, Stoffer’s last races were in 2013, when she competed at Sonoma, Calif., and the U.S. Nationals.
“I just want to have fun racing (at Indy),” said Stoffer, who resides in Reno, Nev. “It probably will not be my last race of the year because even if we don’t do all the East Coast races, we will probably do the West Coast races at Las Vegas and Pomona because they are close to home.”
NO RIVALRY WITH HARLEY TEAMMATES – Since 2004, Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson teammates Andrew Hines and Eddie Krawiec have dominated NHRA’s Pro Stock Motorcycle class.
Hines won world titles in 2005, 2005, 2006 and 2014, while Krawiec was the world champ in 2008, 2011 and 2012.
This season, not much has changed, entering the U.S. Nationals Krawiec was first in the points, while Hector Arana Jr. and Hines were second and third.
Hines ended up second (6.879) on the qualifying ladder and Krawiec (6.908) was ninth.
“This is just another race,” Hines said. “We just show up every weekend trying to do our job to win. That’s our goal every time we leave the shop. We will see what happens.”
When asked if there was an internal rivalry between he and Krawiec he had a quick answer.
“None,” Hines said. “If we race each other in the final, that’s the only competition there is. We try to push each other to be the best we can. As long as our Vance & Hines Harleys are winning we are happy.”
OUTSIDE LOOKING IN – Redell Harris, Mike Berry, and Lance Bonham left Indy early as they each failed to qualify for the U.S. Nationals. Angie Smith snared the coveted No. 16 spot with a 7.011-second time.
PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE SATURDAY NOTEBOOK
ELLIS TAKES TOP SPOT – This was a much-needed run by veteran Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Chip Ellis.
Ellis clocked a 6.862-second run at 193.63 mph to take the top spot after Saturday’s two qualifying sessions.
Ellis is more inspired than ever to help out his owner Junior Pippin these days. Pippin, 62, was diagnosed with nasal cancer shortly after the NHRA’s Route 66 Nationals July 9-12 in Chicago.
According to Ellis, Pippin’s cancer is inoperable and he was to start chemotherapy and radiation Aug. 31.
“For us to come out here and qualify to come out here and qualify on the pole, that’s the best medicine we could give him.”
When the 2015 NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle season began Ellis had no plans of racing.
That changed just prior to the Southern Nationals May 15-17 in Atlanta – the third race of the season for the Pro Stock Motorcycle class – after he spoke with his long-time friend Pippin.
“Another guy was supposed to ride Junior’s bike (at Atlanta) and he couldn’t make it,” Ellis said. “Junior asked me if I could ride it and we have been going ever since. I’ve known Junior forever.”
Pippin lives in Conyers, Ga., and he owns the Junior Pippin Trucking Company.
Ellis has competed in seven events for Pippin on his Buell this year and he came to Indy 11th in the points standings -26 points behind 10th-place LE Tonglet.
DESANTIS HAS WILD RIDE – Veteran Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Joe DeSantis had a wild ride during the first session of qualifying Saturday at the U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway.
DeSantis, 69, was racing in the left lane and right before he reached the finish line his Suzuki was drifting to the left toward the wall.
DeSantis was leaning it back and leaning it back and then right at the finish line DeSantis went down after he clocked a 7.429-second run at 154.26 mph.
Moments after the crash, DeSantis was standing on his own, and walked away uninjured.
“The bike was going to the left, it was pulling to the left,” DeSantis said. “We backed out of the throttle and we were in third gear and it kept pulling and I kept leaning and leaning and I was out of the gas and I just couldn’t get it over. I’m fine.”
Lance Bonham was in the right lane and he came across the finish line at 7.517 seconds at 178.97 mph, but he wasn’t impacted at all by the wreck by DeSantis in the left lane.
DeSantis of Rootstown, Ohio, was the 17th fastest motorcycle out of the 20 that made runs in the first session.
DeSantis chose to sit out the remainder of the U.S. Nationals, but he is expecting to return to action Oct. 29-Nov. 1 at The Strip at Las Vegas.
TONGLET TALKS ABOUT DAD’S HEATH SCARE – LE Tonglet, the 2010 Pro Stock Motorcycle world champion, disclosed to CompetitionPlus that his father, Gary Tonglet suffered a mini stroke during the trip from their home in Metairie, La., to the Mile-High Nationals July 24-26 in Morrison, Colo.
“We don’t exactly know when he had the stroke,” LE said. “He wasn’t talking right and walking right so we had to get him checked out which we did when we got to Denver. We raced at Denver and then we drove home to Metairie and he was in the hospital for four days after we got home.”
Because of his father’s heath situation, LE skipped the Sonoma (Calif.) Nationals – July 31-Aug. 2.
“He lost some feeling in his right arm and right knee, and he’s going through therapy now,” LE said. “He’s also diabetic now, so he has to eat right, and he had high blood pressure, so it was a real wake-up call.”
Tonglet is competing at the U.S. Nationals this weekend and his father is in attendance.
The younger Tonglet also has a chance to make the Countdown to the Championship in his Nitro Fish-sponsored Suzuki as he is 10th in the point standings 26 points in front of 11th place Chip Ellis. The top 10 finishers in the pro classes after the U.S. Nationals qualify for the six-race Countdown, starting at Charlotte, N.C. Sept. 18-20.
“We are talking about running the rest of the races this season, and if we make it into the Countdown it makes it that much easier in our decision, but we will see what happens,” Tonglet said. “If we told you we didn’t look at the points we would be lying to you. We are 26 points in front of Chip and that’s less than one round here (at Indy), so if we could get over 30 points ahead of him in qualifying that would be huge for us.”
Tonglet has fond memories of Indy, especially in 2010 when he won the prestigious race and then went on to win the world title.
“We won here in 2010 and I can still remember who we ran against and what we ran and what my lights were,” Tonglet said. “It was a good time, and that year was a storybook year. We also ran really good in 2011, but we haven’t won a race since Brainerd in 2011. We need to get back in the winner’s circle.”
Tonglet’s best qualifying run Saturday was 6.941-seconds at 193.46 mph, which left him seventh on the qualifying ladder.
GANN RACES WITH HEAVY HEART – Dealing with the loss of a love one is never easy. That’s what veteran Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Shawn Gann and his father/crew chief Blake Gann are dealing with now.
Everette Joyce “Ebb” Gann, Blake’s father and Shawn’s grandfather, passed away Aug. 20 in Stoneville, N.C. He was 77.
“He (Ebb) had an inoperable brain tumor,” Shawn said. “It was pretty hard on me (when he passed). All our family lives on a farm together. I didn’t go to Norwalk, Sonoma or Brainerd, and the more I thought about it (racing), he would probably be mad if I didn’t (race). He was that way. He came to a lot of my races and I know he’s definitely watching me race. The spirit never dies and that’s motivating me even more this weekend.”
Gann, who has five career wins, the last being in 2013 at the Mile-High Nationals, came to the U.S. Nationals 16th in the point standings after only competing in 6 of the 9 races so far this season.
Gann was 10th on the qualifying ladder after Saturday’s two sessions with a 6.977-second run at 190.24 mph.
KANDY MAGAZINE NO LONGER SPONSORING SMITH – On Jan. 22, Matt Smith's racing program received a key jolt when he signed a two-year sponsorship agreement with Victory Motorcycles.
Victory agreed to sponsor the motorcycle driven by Smith and his wife Angie.
“It has been different,” Angie said about racing a Victory motorcycle. “There’s a lot more wind on the rider and the body work is a lot different and it takes a little bit to get used to. It’s still a motorcycle that goes down the race track, but when you change the aspect when there is a lot more wind on the rider and the body is actually different for the rider to sit on and things like that and you have to adapt your riding style to that. I think we have turned the corner and we are doing a little bit better and we are beginning to peak at the right time and we are headed in the right direction.”
Matt Smith qualified No. 8 (6.952) and Angie was 17th (7.144).
Angie confirmed to Competition Plus that Kandy Magazine, which started sponsoring Angie’s motorcycle in April of 2014 at Charlotte ended the deal prior to the Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd (Minn.) (Aug. 20-23).
“They didn’t want to continue on,” Smith said. “It was a good deal with them while it lasted. Now we will just move on. Victory is our primary sponsor and they are great. They give us everything that we need to come out here and race. Nitro Fish also helps Matthew and Petrolhead also helps me.”
KENNEDY TO GO DIRT TRACK RACING – This season has been a learning experience for second-year Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Chaz Kennedy.
Kennedy’s going to do some more learning Sept. 12 as he scheduled to compete in a Sprint Car race in Indianapolis.
“It’s a 410 no wing dirt car,” said Kennedy, 21. “I’ve never driven one. Scott Smalley (the owner-operator of UPI Performance that sponsors Kennedy’s motorcycle) used to race Sprint Cars pretty heavy and he had a guy call him and ask him if he wanted to drive his car and Scott didn’t want to do it, he wanted to put me in one. We are going to go give it a try and see how it goes. If I really like it we might do it part time. Anything with horsepower and speed, I can’t turn it down.”
After competing for Star Racing in the 2014 season and finishing 12th in the points, Kennedy started up his own team in 2015 after buying a Buell motorcycle from Matt Smith. Kennedy arrived at the U.S. Nationals 13th in the point standings.
“Matt is doing all my engine stuff right now and tuning and my dad (Chuck) is my crew chief,” Chaz said. “It has been an up and down deal. We have had some really awesome races and we’ve had some races we just never showed up to. All in all, a bad day at the race track is better than a good day at work in my book. I’m learning a lot more and I’m building as a driver. I know I have to do everything in my power to get every thousandth of a second out of my motorcycle now. Ultimately it has made me better at shifting, it has made me better on the tree and all in all, I just feel like a 100 percent better driver than I was.”
Kennedy was No. 13th (7.004 seconds) on the qualifying ladder Saturday.
